"Mom, are you sure about this? Are you sure we shouldn't just wait for a patrol to fly past?" Bromeliad's stomach was churning, and her heart was beating quickly as she stood on a branch, adjacent to her mother. The liquid gold of the sunset had transformed, to black night sky, the moon a white sliver. Half of the sky was now covered in grey, ominous clouds that promised heavy rain, and there was a weird feeling in the air - it was incredibly humid, and Bromeliad was sure she heard the occasional rumble of thunder. A storm was obviously coming, but Sophia didn't care about the weather.
"Li, they haven't been seen for days, and I'm getting worried." Sophia was restless; her eyes were flickering around the border, but filled with determination. "I just want to make sure they're okay. You stay here, and I'll be right back."
"But mom-" Bromeliad began to protest, but Sophia put her wings on her daughter's shoulders, turning her to face her.
"I'll be fine. Just wait here, okay, honey?" Sophia smoothed Bromeliad's ruffled head feathers, giving her a kiss on the forehead. Bromeliad stared up at her mother. It was unlike her to nervous - Bromeliad was usually confident, but today, she was full of trepidation. This wasn't a good idea at all, but Sophia was stubborn - she never changed her mind. Once she wanted to do something, no-one could stop her. Sophia gave her a hug, before she then turned away, launching herself into flight. She called over her shoulder. "I won't be long - just go home."
"Be careful!" Bromeliad pleaded, but Sophia was out of earshot - the last glimpse Bromeliad had of her was her periwinkle-blue tail, vanishing into the trees of the neighbouring territory. At first, she considered going home, but she couldn't move. She couldn't leave Sophia here - for a couple of moments, she stood there, gnawing on her wing tips, torn on what to do - before she shook her head. "What the heck." She muttered, before plunging into the trees, following Sophia. "Mom!" she called. "Mom, wait for me!" it took her a few moments to catch up, but eventually, her calls reached Sophia's ears, for she melted in view.
"Are you sure?" she asked, in a serious voice.
"Yes." Bromeliad nodded eagerly, and, after a few moments, Sophia nodded in return, fluffing up her feathers.
"Okay. Stay close to me." Sophia then continued flying, Bromeliad close behind. As they flew, the mother and daughter realized that the jungle here was eerily quiet. It was usually alive with animal and Scarlet and Green-Winged macaw calls, with flashes of the tribes' feathers seen in the trees. But now it was like a ghost territory - empty. Most of the other animals who lived here were now no-where to be seen - but Bromeliad often saw the weak moonlight catching the scales of a snake, or turning a jaguar's pelt to silver. No capybaras, tapirs, or many birds. It was as though the predatory animals were the only creatures that remained, or that were in sight. Had something happened, or was this just a coincidence? By now, every trace of sunset was now gone - the entire sky was dark, cloud-covered, and Bromeliad often felt a drop of rain. Her feathers had risen on the back of her neck - she had a weird feeling, and suddenly, she regretted following Sophia. They should go home, come back in the morning.
"Mom, maybe we should head back." Bromeliad suggested. "It looks like it's about to pour, and it's dark - Mom?" she paused, realizing that Sophia had gone. Briefly, she felt a rush of panic, but then she spotted Sophia standing on the floor, staring at something in the ferns. At first, she was relieved, but then confused when she saw how stiff Sophia looked - it alarmed her. "What is it?" she asked, blinking, landing beside her. What had her mother seen? She then sniffed the air. What was that? It made her feathers rise on end - it was like rotting flesh. Wait a minute…
Half-hidden, there was a red lump in the ferns. At first, she was puzzled, but then a more powerful reek of decay hit Bromeliad's throat, and she stumbled back, covering her beak. Bromeliad swallowed the bile that had risen, daring herself to look back - red feathers, and a green wing. A Green-Winged macaw, obviously a few days dead. The corpse was beginning to decay - a wound over her left lung, festering and black, many claw marks criss-crossing her body. The body's eyes were blue, glassy, and blank, and as she looked at those eyes, she felt as though she had been plunged into icy water. Bromeliad recognised that face - she recalled an outing with her parents, as a young chick. Her parents had waved to this macaw, where she had been accompanied by a male, various plants in her talons.
"It's their female healer." Sophia whispered, swaying slightly, as if she were about to faint. "Maite."
"Is she… dead?" Bromeliad asked, but immediately she knew that it was a stupid question. Of course Maite was dead - you didn't start rotting until you were dead. Bromeliad then paused, forgetting the horror, for she had noticed a metal glint beside some mushrooms. She glanced at Sophia, seeing if she had noticed, but her eyes were still fixed on Maite. Bromeliad walked up to the peculiar object, pulling at the object, until she was holding it up. This was a strange thing; two circles made of wood, with metal sticks coming out. The two parts were attached, so when it was opened, it made an 'X' shape, the metal parts glistening, incredibly sharp. Bromeliad could see a blurry outline of herself reflected in the metal, which was beginning to rust as the edges. Behind Bromeliad, Sophia gasped, seeing the object. She recoiled, taking a step back.
"Drop them." She demanded, and Bromeliad turned, blinking in confusion. Sophia stared at the object. "It's the kind of object what killed Catia, according to your father." At this, Bromeliad suddenly wished she hadn't touched the thing. She dropped them in shock, taking a step back. The wooden parts, the ends where the blades came out, was stained a brownish-red - Bromeliad's talons started shaking, and suddenly, she wanted to wash her talons, to get rid of the trace of the object. For a few moments, they stood in silence, before Sophia looked back at Maite, regret and fear in her eyes. "Forget the Red tribe. We've got to go."
"Oh, I think that's quite impossible." Said a mocking voice from behind them, making their blood run cold. "Leaving so soon?" Bromeliad and Sophia were frozen, stiff, staring at each other. Sophia then lunged forward, seizing the human object in her talons, before whirling round, holding them up. Bromeliad was desperate to turn and fly for her life, but she couldn't abandon Sophia.
"Come near us, and I'll skewer you." Sophia hissed, her wings stretched out to shield Bromeliad. A male Hyacinth stood beside Maite's body, his talons set on the dead macaw's head. Streaks of dark grey from old age were strewn through his navy feathers, and his eyes were like amber ice, and filled with mocking. Bromeliad didn't recognise him, but she was terrified. This macaw probably weighed more than herself and Sophia combined, since Bromeliad had inherited Sophia's slender, lithe form. This Hyacinth was far from light, and he wasn't alone - two Hyacinths flanked him. A young male, and an almost unbelievably small female. Bromeliad frowned, looking her up and down. She was probably a third of the size of a normal Hyacinth - actually not far off from Spix's macaw height. A memory about the mention of a small Hyacinth pooled in the back of Bromeliad's mind, but she struggled to remember anymore. This one looked… what? Aghast? Torn? "Did you kill Maite?" Sophia demanded, jolting Bromeliad from her thoughts. Despite the situation, Bromeliad couldn't help but be impressed by how well her mother concealed her fear - was she even afraid?
"Oh, a few days ago." Said the large male, almost casually, sickening Bromeliad. He took pleasure in killing someone? And he didn't seem to notice the decaying body he was standing on. Bromeliad saw the spark of outrage in Sophia's eyes.
"A healer!" she almost shouted, shaking with anger. "Do you realize how low that is? Maite did nothing wrong!" The two males started laughing, but the small female didn't say a word or make a sound. In fact, she looked as though she would do anything to get away from the scene. Sophia turned to Bromeliad. "Come on. We're leaving."
"Oh, I don't think so." Said the older male. Then he looked up. "Seize them." He said, simply. Bromeliad didn't have time to look up - she was suddenly crushed to the ground, large talons wrapping around her. Then she heard her mother screaming.
"No! Don't touch her!" Bromeliad heard Sophia's shriek. From her position, she only saw Sophia's talons, clutching the human object, leaping off the ground. She was aiming for whoever had pinned Bromeliad down - then there was a spurt of blood, and the screech of a Hyacinth macaw - the talons around her loosened, giving her the opportunity to scrabble away. "Fly, Bromeliad!" Sophia screeched, but then she was abruptly cut off. Bromeliad didn't see what happened, but as she turned around, she saw Sophia dropping to the ground, motionless. She was breathing, but blood was turning the back of her neck red. There was a wound on the back of her head, and the human object was still clutched in her talons, the blades crimson - the Hyacinth who had been holding Bromeliad was now clutching the side of his neck, eyes glittering with malice. But Bromeliad's eyes were only for her mother. Behind Sophia, the young male macaw had a stone in one talon, and he was breathing heavily. "Stupid Spix's." He snarled. Horror whelmed up, and she leapt to her feet, desperate to see if her mother was alright.
"Mom!" Bromeliad dived forward, to get to Sophia's side - but then there was a blow to the back of her head. Pain shot through her skull, and immediately, her vision lit up with stars, and her knees buckled. Bromeliad tried to fight it, but an unknown force had made her unable to think, control her body. She swayed slightly, eyes rolling, before she crashed, face-down, into the dirt. Her world was spinning, all the colours smearing into a blurry mess. Get up! Get up! The Hyacinths had hit Sophia on a part of the head that had simply knocked her out, not killed her. The reason why Bromeliad was still conscious was probably because the hit hadn't been well-calculated - they hadn't expected her to break free of the grip of the Hyacinth. She could barely hear the Hyacinths' voices.
"She missed my throat - it's just bleeding. Kerja only wants one. Take the mother."
"What about the kid? What if she tells Eduardo what she saw?"
"Leave her. Some snake'll come along sooner or later."
"Don't risk it. I'll take care of this - you lot go on without me." then the jungle became silent, but Bromeliad knew two things - one, her mother was gone, and two, that the last speaker was here - here to 'take care of this' - in other words, here to finish her off. Kill her, to keep her quiet. Knowing what would happen if she didn't get up, Bromeliad attempted to force herself to move - but her muscles refused to obey her. Panic surged through her, and every subtle movement sent agony rushing through her skull. Any moment now, she'd feel more pain - and this time, there was no recovery. But what the speaker said next made her freeze.
"Don't move - you'll make the injury worse." A pair of wings rested on her, keeping her still, and Bromeliad stiffened, refusing to open her eyes and look. Something was being held to the back of her head, where she had been hit - water, and something soft. It felt like moss, and she realized something. The basic rule of stopping bleeding in the tribes was to cover a wound with moss, as it was a good absorber and helped block any more blood loss. Confusion swarmed through her mind. Stopping bleeding? Is this Hyacinth helping me? Bromeliad finally felt the control of her body seeping back, and she began thinking normally. She slowly pried open her eyes, squinting up at the figure. Though her vision was blurry, she could tell that it was the small Hyacinth - the one who had looked as though she didn't want to be there. With a jolt, Bromeliad remembered why the thought of a small Hyacinth seemed familiar. Eduardo and Mimi had told the tribe - that small Hyacinth, the one who had saved Blu's life.
"Mina?" she mumbled.
Meanwhile
"This is your entire fault!" Carla declared, accusingly. She was glaring at Tiago, who shrunk back from his sister, his head feathers sticking out even more wildly than usual to show his anxiety. Carla's green eyes were ablaze with anger and fear. "If you had spotted the jaguar coming, instead of admiring some spider, we never would've split up! We never would've lost Bia, or sent Orchid running in another direction!"
"My fault? I took my eyes off the surroundings for one second!" Tiago argued, wings spreading out threateningly, anxiety gone as it was replaced by anger. "Don't pin the blame on me! You saw Orchid going in another direction, but did you chase after her? No!"
"Maybe that's because some jaguar was trying to tear me to pieces!" Carla retorted. Bruno and Azure listened to the siblings arguing, trying to stay calm, but their arguing wasn't making anything better. Azure was out of his mind with worry - his sister and his girlfriend were missing - but at least he wasn't panicking, like Carla was. He understood that she was worried sick, but there was no need to start arguing about whose fault it was.
"Carla, no offence, but can you just be quiet? And stop blaming Tiago?" Bruno asked, looking up. This statement earned him a glare from Carla, but he looked back steadily, hoping that he wasn't about to argue with her. "I know you're worried, but Bia and Orchid are smart. Hopefully they've stuck together, and won't be running in all directions. If I know them, they'll sit and wait. We've just got to find the place we got separated…"
"The problem is, Bruno, that everything looks the same!" Carla exclaimed, throwing her wings up into the air in exasperation. "Anything could've happened -"
"Don't remind us." Azure groaned, holding his forehead, feeling a wave of new panic. He fought it down. "Alright, we've just got to retrace out flight - yes, everything looks the same, but I'm sure we can get somewhere."
"We can't go out now," Bruno pointed out, indicating toward the sky - the sky was almost black, the moon almost new, but not entirely gone - a thin slither of white. From the east, dark cloud was creeping across the sky, hinting at rain. "Firstly, it's pitch black, and two, it's dangerous at night."
"He's right." Tiago said, although he looked reluctant. Just like Azure's case - a girlfriend and a sister, lost in the Peruvian jungle. "I don't want to leave Bia and Orchid, but we can't go out now. They'll be hiding themselves anyway, so they'll be hard to find. We'll leave as soon as the sky grows light. Let's take sleeping shifts." It took a few minutes to convince Carla that nothing would happen to the missing Bia and Orchid - but eventually, the stubborn teenager agreed, plonking herself down beside Bruno, but she wore a clear scowl in her sleep. Even though Tiago could've slept, he stayed awake, staring out into the trees with a worried expression. Azure had volunteered to take the first shift, keeping watch. He stood there, fighting the desire to fly into the jungle, to search for Bia and Orchid. He glanced down at his scar, running a wingtip over it. He couldn't lose them, not after everything. His sister, and the girl he loved… unimaginable. Refusing to imagine what could happen to them, Azure, seeing that Tiago wasn't sleeping anytime soon, tried to catch some sleep.
Meanwhile, a couple of trees away, two pairs of yellow eyes were set on the blue macaws, their owners cloaked by shadow. A series of odd sounds were exchanged between them, but then one owner of the eyes shook its head, making more odd sounds to its partner. The other one clicked its hooked beak in reply. On his branch, Azure felt his spine prickle. He opened his eyes, looking around, wondering what was the matter with him. Surely he was just afraid of what could happen to Bia and Orchid? No.
Azure felt as though they were being watched.